1. Technical Field
This disclosure generally relates to air dams and methods of deploying an air dam, and more particularly, to pivotally deployable air dams, and methods of manipulating the same that utilize active material actuation.
2. Background Art
Air dams have been developed to reduce the contribution of airflow under a moving vehicle to its aerodynamic drag. More particularly, air dams serve to redirect air flow that would otherwise pass underneath the vehicle, laterally, so as to minimize turbulence caused by irregular under-carriage surfaces. This redirection of airflow, it is appreciated, results in increased fuel efficiency for the vehicle. Air dams have traditionally presented fixed configurations, such as featured on race cars, which do not stow. Due to their proximity to the ground, however, conventional dams present various concerns in the art, such as for example, a propensity to become damaged (e.g., by scraping or coming in contact with foreign objects/the ground). Sporadic impact often permanently alters the shape of the dam thereby reducing its effectiveness. This further results in a reduction in useful life, and an increase in associative repair and/or replacement costs. As a result, vertically deployed air dams have more recently been developed, which enable variable ground clearance and thus selective usage and stowage when not in use. These dams, however, also present concerns in the art, among which include the need for complex mechanisms that seal the deployment actuator from outside elements, and provide non-binding laterally uniform motion.